Van Gundy said he regretted that what he regards as his larger point — that his job security and what Dwight Howard wants are "irrelevant" and are "not important right now" — didn't receive more attention.

"It's not important to me, I know that," Van Gundy said after practice Friday. "And I don't think it's important to our players. It's not important, so let's move on. That's what I wanted to emphasize."

Van Gundy started a circus Thursday when he revealed he was told by high-ranking team officials of Howard's request. Howard walked up and hugged Van Gundy during that media scrum, unaware what Van Gundy had just said. After the coach walked away, Howard was blindsided that reporters knew the truth about his firing request.

Hours later, the Magic lost their fifth straight, 96-80 to the Knicks, and dropped to sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Van Gundy spoke to reporters for more than 30 minutes after practice Friday, with most of the questions focusing on his relationship with Howard. Van Gundy used the term "irrelevant" more than a dozen times.

"At least there's no more speculation. It's not going to go back and forth. It happened. To me, it'll go a day or two and then people are off of it, rather than it hanging out there and people bringing it up again."

Howard acknowledged that the team faces "a tough situation for everybody."

"We're capable of getting through anything," Howard said. "Right now, the leader is being attacked from all angles, and it's my job to stay strong for the team and not allow anything to break my spirit or break who I am as a person or a player. And the rest of the guys will follow."

To make matters worse for Orlando, forward Hedo Turkoglu will have surgery for a facial fracture and miss at least the rest of the regular season. Turkoglu was inadvertently hit by Knicks star Carmelo Anthony on Thursday during New York's victory.

Mike Conley and St. Petersburg native Marreese Speights each scored 15 for the Grizzlies, who have won six of their last eight games.

LeBron James had 21 points, six assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who never led and failed in a bid to match the franchise's longest home win streak, set in the 2004-05 season.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, Chris Bosh added 19 and Terrel Harris scored 10 for Miami, which had last lost at home Jan. 22 to Milwaukee.

Miami fell three games behind Chicago in the race for the No. 1 seed in the East. The Heat has 12 games left, the Bulls have 10, and the teams meet twice more.

The Grizzlies forced 11 turnovers in the first quarter — Miami's most in a quarter since Feb. 14, 2006 — and led 25-12 behind nine points from Gay.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS: Danny Granger had 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to help the host Pacers beat the Thunder 103-98 for their fourth straight win. Indiana overcame Kevin Durant's 44-point night, the most scored against the Pacers this season. … Jeff Teague tied a career high with 24 points and had a season-high 11 assists, and Josh Smith added 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the host Hawks top the Pistons 101-96.

AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Nets shut down Brook Lopez for the season after an injury-marred campaign in which he played in five games. The 24-year-old is eligible to become a free agent after this season. … The league fined Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins $25,000 for publicly criticizing officials after Thursday's 95-83 loss to the Clippers. Cousins, who fouled out in the closing seconds, called Blake Griffin an "actor" in terms of foul calls and said the league protects last season's Rookie of the Year and slam-dunk champion too much. The teams meet again today in Los Angeles.